"2026 Olympics" and "Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026" redirect here. For the Winter Paralympics, see2026 Winter Paralympics. For the Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, see2026 Summer Youth Olympics.
The2026 Winter Olympics (Italian:Olimpiadi invernali del 2026), officially theXXVWinter Olympic Games and commonly known asMilano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming internationalmulti-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites acrossLombardy andNortheast Italy.
A joint bid byMilan andCortina d'Ampezzo was awarded the 2026 Winter Olympics at the134th IOC Session on 24 June 2019, beating a bid byStockholm andÅre, Sweden; they will be the first Olympic Games to officially be co-hosted by multiple cities, with Milan primarily hosting ice events, and the remaining events being hosted in clusters around Cortina, and theValtellina andFiemme valleys. They will mark the third Winter Olympics, and fourth overall, to be hosted by Italy; Cortina d'Ampezzo had previously hosted the1956 Winter Olympics.
The Games will primarily utilize existing venues acrossLombardy andNortheast Italy, including those used by the1956 Winter Olympics previously held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and by the2013 Winter Universiade hosted by the province ofTrentino. Most ice events, aside from curling, will be held in the Milan cluster, while sliding and snow events will be held in clusters around Cortina,Valtellina and theFiemme Valley.
During the bidding process, the bidding committee proposed that the speed skating events could be held at the existingIce Rink Piné inBaselga di Piné. However, despite the infrastructure being ready, it required a roof which impact and cost studies indicated would be costly, potentially exceeding the budget. So instead, the committee deliberated over three choices: building an ice rink in the pavilions ofFiera Milano (in a possibility to be permanent or temporary), options that would require significant structural work, or move the events to theOval Lingotto in the city ofTurin which required no structural changes. The venue was constructed to host the speed skating during the2006 Winter Olympics and after the Games, has hosted a variety of events such as exhibitions, fairs and conferences. The venue hosted the same sport in2007 Winter Universiade. In April 2023, it was estimated that the temporary ice rink in Fiera Milano would cost nearly €20 million, which would be paid for with private funds. The proposal to use Turin's Oval Lingotto received opposition from Milan-area officials, as Turin was part of the initial stages of the project, but latter withdrawn. One of the spokespersons to reject this proposal was the Milan mayorGiuseppe Sala and officials from the host regions of Lombardy and Veneto.[15] Fiera Milano was confirmed as the speed skating venue on 19 April 2023.[16][17]
TheOlympic torch relay is scheduled to start on 26 November 2025 with the flame lighting inOlympia, Greece, and conclude on 6 February 2026 inMilan, Italy, coinciding with the opening ceremony atStadio San Siro. The route is expected to visit all 110provinces of Italy making 60 stops over 63 days across 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi)[18]
The Olympic torch was presented in a simultaneous event held in Milan in Italy andOsaka in Japan. It was revealed at theTriennale di Milano and at the Italian pavilion atExpo 2025 as a way of connecting the twotwin cities, as Milan previously hostedExpo 2015.[19][20][21] The torch is light blue whereas the corresponding Paralympic torch is bronze.[22] Named "Essential"; developed byEni and its subsidiaryVersalis, designed by StudioCarlo Ratti Associati and produced in Italy by Cavagna Group, the torches are made primarily of an alloy of recycled aluminium and bronze. They run bio-LPG, a fuel made from renewable materials, produced at theEnilive [it] biorefinery inGela, and have been designed to be refilled up to ten times in order to cut down on the number of torches produced.[23]
On 15 July 2025, the official medals of the Games unveiled inVenice, designed as two halves that symbolize the culmination of an athlete and Para athlete’s journey and of all those who have walked beside them along the way, it was created by theIstituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS).[24][25]
The medals featured an essential design that places emotion and teamwork at its core, they had the traditional Olympic five-ring symbol on one side, with an inscription on the reverse that details the event and commemorates the venue.[26][27]
The opening ceremony will be held on 6 February 2026 atSan Siro (Milan), entitled "Armonia" (Harmony).[28] The ceremony will be produced byBanijay Entertainment-owned Balich Wonder Studio. Marco Balich, Creative Lead of the Opening Ceremony, explained that the word harmony comes from ancient Greek. "It means 'bringing together' in musical terms, different elements.[29]
The closing ceremony will be held at theVerona Arena on 22 February 2026, entitled "Beauty in Action".[30][31] The closing ceremony will also feature world-renowned ballet dancerRoberto Bolle, principal dancer atLa Scala Theatre Ballet, and Alfredo Accatino will direct the closing ceremony.[32]
The 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to feature 116 medal events in 16 disciplines, an increase of seven events and one discipline overBeijing 2022. New medal events will include men's and women's dual moguls in freestyle skiing, the return of the men's and women's doubles in luge (replacing the open doubles event), men's and women's team alpine combined, women's large hill individual in ski jumping, and mixed relay team in skeleton. The Games will have the highest percentage of women's participation in Winter Olympic history, at 47%.[33][34]
The alpine mixed team parallel event has been dropped. Alpine combined will switch from an individual format to two-person teams; the event had seen diminishing participation due to evolving technical and training requirements, and had been dropped from theFIS Alpine Ski World Cup circuit in 2020.[35][36][37] Team ski jumping and Nordic combined will also switch to two-person teams, with the latter adopting a large hill/2x7.5km course.[34] For the first time, women will race the same distances as men in cross-country skiing.[34]
At the 138th IOC Session on 20 July 2021, the IOC approved a proposal by the organising committee to addski mountaineering as a debuting optional sport.[38] It will consist of three medal events: men's sprint, women's sprint, and mixed relay.[39] In February 2024, theIIHF announced an agreement with theNational Hockey League (NHL) to allow its players to participate in the Olympic men's hockey tournament for the first time since2014.[40]
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each discipline.
The Olympic Committees ofRussia andBelarus remain suspended for violating theOlympic Truce due to the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like during the2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, individual Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2026 Games may compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN) without national identification.[41][42] Individual neutral athletes have to be approved by each sport'sinternational federation, and then the IOC's panel.[43] As individual athletes, AIN is not considered a delegation during the opening ceremony or in the medal tables.[44] International federations that are allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under the Individual Neutral Athlete banner include theInternational Skating Union for the various skating events[45] and theInternational Ski Mountaineering Federation for theski mountaineering events.[46] Russian and Belarusian athletes are not allowed to compete in team events likeice hockey, since the IOC has ruled that "a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team".[41] Other NOCs have had at least one male or female competitor meet the minimum alpine skiing and cross-country skiing requirements.[47][48]
The first version of the schedule was released in March 2024. Competitions start two days before the opening ceremony on 4 February with the mixed doubles event on curling, and end on 22 February 2026 with the men's ice hockey tournament final.[50] The second version of the schedule was released in December 2024.[51]
For the first time, the emblem of an Olympic Games was determined via a public vote. On 6 March 2021 during theSanremo Music Festival 2021 finals, two candidate designs titled "Dado" and "Futura" were unveiled by former Italian Olympic gold medallistsFederica Pellegrini andAlberto Tomba. They were both designed byLandor Associates.[52][53] On 30 March 2021, "Futura" was announced as the winning emblem.[54][55] The emblem consists of a stylized "26" written in a single stroke, representing the impact of "small gestures", and "sport, solidarity, and sustainability".[56]
The Games' official slogan, "IT's Your Vibe", was announced on 23 February 2025; it uses "IT" as both an abbreviation for Italy (i.e. "[Italy's] Your Vibe") and as thecontraction "It's", with variants of the slogan used in other contexts to reflect upon the Games and its host country.[57][58]
An online vote closing on 28 February 2023 was held among a list of candidates to select the two mascots of the event. The winning candidates, designed by the students of a school inTaverna and inspired bystoats,[59] were presented during the second night of theSanremo Music Festival 2024 on 7 February 2024.[60] Their names were revealed to beTina and Milo (derived from the names of the host cities), and are portrayed as sister and brother.[61][62][63] The choice of stoats has been explained as being due to these animals' embodiment of "the contemporary Italian spirit" of curiosity, ability to change according to the seasons, and capacity of adaptation to challenging habitats.[62][63] The two main mascots are additionally accompanied by sixsnowdrop flowers, called "The Flo".[64]
Milo, a brown stoat, and Tina, a white stoat, are brother and sister "born in the mountains of Italy", who "decided to move to the city". Tina, the main Olympic mascot, symbolizes art, music, and the transformative force of beauty. Milo, the Paralympic mascot, was born without a leg but uses his tail to help him to take a normal life with some ingenuity, willpower, and creativity.[62]
During theSanremo Music Festival 2022 finals, the two final candidates for the official anthem of the event were presented, with a poll opening afterward. On 7 March 2022, "Fino all'alba" ("Until the dawn") — composed by the youth music group La Cittadina of the San Pietro Martire inSeveso, and performed during Sanremo byArisa — was announced as the winner.[65]
In Italy, domestic pay-TV rights are owned byWarner Bros. Discovery,[69] with free-to-air coverage and digital rights owned byRAI under a sublicense agreement with theEuropean Broadcasting Union.[70] On 16 January 2023, the IOC announced that it had renewed its European broadcast rights agreement withWarner Bros. Discovery Sports to last from 2026 through to 2032. The contract covers pay television and streaming rights to the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympics onEurosport andDiscovery+ in 49 European territories.[69] Unlike the previous contract where corporate precursorDiscovery, Inc. was responsible for sublicensing them to broadcasters in each country,[71][72] free-to-air rights packages were concurrently awarded to the EBU and its members to cover at least 100 hours of each Winter Olympics.[69] EBU member RAI then signed a sublicensing deal for Italian free-to-air TV and digital rights.[70]
On 21 May 2024, theGuardia di Finanza raided the offices of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, Quibyt andDeloitte for irregularities over the selection of certain sponsors, such as bid-rigging, irregular payments and uncertain validity over relationships between the Fondazione officials.[73] The investigations mainly concern Deloitte and accusations of corruption and bid-rigging against three people.[74][75]
In July 2025, the Prosecutor's Office of Milan started an investigation into alleged corruption regarding the public works tender for theMilan Olympic Village. 74 individuals were identified, with offences of corruption, forgery, or abuse of public offices.[76]
According toAl Jazeera, the accused boasted of their friendship with Fabrizio Piscitelli, former leader of theIrriducibili, who was murdered in a Rome park in 2019. Their reputation in football's violent circles helped them present themselves as influential figures within Rome's criminal underworld.[77] The investigation, disclosed by the Venice prosecutor's office, details how two brothers from Rome, linked to Lazio's ultramafia group known as the Irriducibili, were arrested after trying to illegally obtain contracts related to Olympic construction works.[78]
In November 2025, the Italian Government's so-called 'Olympics rescue decree', which classified the organizing foundation of the upcoming Winter Games as a private entity, has been referred to theConstitutional Court of Italy in a motion led by the Milan Prosecutor's Office to assess its constitutional legitimacy. The Milan Court has raised concerns about the constitutionality of a recent government decree intended to shield the Milano Cortina Foundation from investigations into alleged bid rigging and corruption scandals.[79]
During the bidding process, the joint Committee proposed to restore theEugenio Monti olympic track in Cortina, to be relaunched as a federal centre also for sledding and skeleton.[80] The minimum cost of restoring the closed track was initially estimated at €14 million, while in the official Milan-Cortina bid dossier the cost indicated was €100 million (similar budget needed to build theCesana Pariol track used at the 2006 Winter Olympics).[81] After initially forecasting an expenditure of €40-50 million, the Veneto Region allocated funding up to €85 million to build the new Olympic venues. An annual expenditure of €400,000 was also planned for the management of the facility, which would be open four months a year, to be settled through the establishment of €8 million fund.[82]
Due to the rising cost of construction materials, the Veneto region presidentLuca Zaia turned public in February 2023 that the restoring cost for the Eugenio Monti track could be upwards of €120 million.[83] Calling for tenders to award the work, no company came forward with a bid by the 31 July 2023 deadline;[84] even after that, no company interested in carrying out the work could be found, both for economic reasons and because of the difficulty to complete all works before the start of the Olympics.[85] Due to critical issues, costs and prohibitive times for the total renovation of Cortina track, the mayor ofInnsbruck,Austria made a proposal for the use of theIgls Olympic Sliding Centre in Innsbruck.[86] On 16 October 2023 theItalian National Olympic Committee (CONI) announced that the track will not be rebuilt to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and the sliding events could be held outside of Italy.[87][88] However, the current Italian government wanted the sliding events to remain in Italy, so they studied the possibility to revamp theCesana Pariol track which hosted the events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, which has been dormant since 2011.[89] Since then, several construction companies have submitted bids to study a potential reconstruction of the Eugenio Monti track.[90] A bid was won to build a new sliding track instead of rebuilding the Eugenio Monti track, which was demolished.[91]
Despite concerns about the new track not being ready on time, it was confirmed in September 2024 that the new Eugenio Monti track was on schedule, and thathomologation of the track was expected by March 2025.[92] From 24 to 28 March 2025, the venue's first tests were held.[93][94] If the new facility had not been ready in time, theMt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run inLake Placid, United States (which hosted sliding events at the1932 and1980 Winter Olympics) had been designated as a backup venue.[95][96]
^"Competition Schedule V.5 (by session)"(PDF).www./milanocortina2026.olympics.com. Milano-Cortina Organising Committee for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 13 March 2024.Archived(PDF) from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved10 September 2024.
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